After humbling loss, Pakistan eager for India rematch in Champions Trophy final

After Pakistan was thrashed by India by 124 runs two weeks ago, coach Mickey Arthur blamed “the magnitude of the occasion” for the fear his side showed.

That was their opening match of the Champions Trophy. The teams meet again on Sunday in the final, an obviously bigger occasion.

Asked why Pakistan’s effort will be different this time, Arthur said Saturday their attitude is different.

“They’re genuinely excited,” he said at The Oval before their last practice.

“I said before the Edgbaston game, I thought they were really, really calm, but they’re very, very excited now, and there’s a hell of a good vibe in that dressing room.”

Arthur suggested he and the staff made a mistake in analyzing India too much, creating a fear that came out on the field at Edgbaston.

The fielding was sloppy, the bowling didn’t stick to the game plan, and the batsmen didn’t run well between the wickets. The end result was embarrassing. In this buildup, Arthur said they’ve focused much less on India and more on reinforcing what they do well.

Their strength was their bowling, and the ability to take wickets, especially through the middle overs when teams consolidate.

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who missed the semifinals because of a back spasm, will play.

“If we can get amongst them with the new ball, we can expose the middle order that hasn’t batted much this competition ... that’s pretty much our aim and focus,” Arthur said. “We have the attack to restrict them or defend against them.” Following that humbling loss to their archrival, the Pakistanis had to beat South Africa and Sri Lanka, and did so. Then they crushed England in the semifinals, and the least surprised was Arthur.

“The India game ... was an aberration,” he said. “What we’ve produced after that doesn’t come as any surprise because that’s how we trained, and that’s what we worked at.”

Like Pakistan, India has tried to treat the final as just another game.

India has won the Champions Trophy twice and the Cricket World Cup twice, but never successfully defended a title.

“We haven’t spoken about this game in any different way,” captain Virat Kohli said. “We’ve practised the same way from the first day.”

This is Pakistan’s first Trophy final. It hasn’t beaten India in a major ICC event in eight years.